Sandbox/Maikal/V
The Maikalians are a major space-faring species native to the world of Maikal, and are best known for their agressive behavior and rapid birth rate. As much a danger to themselves as they are to the many worlds around them, the Maikalians are a violent species who's birth rate allows them to absorb massive losses and recover immediately. The lack of resource-rich worlds within Maikalian space has resulted in prolong civil conflict and invasions mounted by the Maikalians into other neighboring regions in search of worlds rich in resources such as arable land and water, which within Maikalian space, are precious resources jealously guarded by the Maikalian households controlling them. The Maikalians are loosely unified under the leadership of the entity known as the Maikalian Federation, which attempts to govern the internal and external affairs of the Maikalian race to the best of its ability. However, many houses have ignored the central government's rulings, and gone out of their way to take what they want from one another and the species around them. Biology and appearence The Maikalians are humanoids similar in appearence to humans, almost to the point where they can be mistaken for one. As a race, the Maikalians are relatively short, with males standing about 5'5" (165 cm) in height, and females about 5'10" (177 cm) in height. Maikalians have medium brown skin, black hair, and grey eyes, while their blood is red in color, similar to humans. The race has few defining characteristics, though these few are incredibly important in telling Maikalians apart from humans. The first is the lack of aging in their race; a Maikalian will cease aging physically upon reaching maturing, and will appear similar to a human in their early to mid-twenties. The second is the fact that the males give birth to all Maikalians asexually; males do not need to mate to reproduce, and produce large numbers of pinhead-sized eggs from which the Maikalians grow and eventually hatch from. The third is fact that 95% of the Maikalian species is female; female Maikalians are infertile and lack the ovaries found in human females, though they still possess the same internal and external sexual organs as their human counterparts. The Maikalians possess a high level of sexual dimorphism within their species. Males are shorter than females, yet incredibly intelligent and long-lived by Maikalian standards. Females are taller and stronger than males, yet less intelligent, more prone to violence, and have incredibly short lifespans. The lifespan for a male is about 250 years, which stands in sharp contrast to the short ten to fifteen year lifespans of females. When factoring in the constant cycle of warfare, female lifespans shrink to a mere five or seven years. Maikalians are physical stronger than humans, about twice the strength of an athletic human male; however, female Maikalians are fifteen percent stronger than male Maikalians. Female Maikalian teeth are sharper than male teeth, and they have a higher level of endurance and stamina than their male counterparts. These advantages the females hold over males is counterbalanced by the reproductive monopoly males possess, and the overall political and societal dependence the females require from their men. Additionally, males produce nearly all of the practical technological advancements taken for granted by their female counterparts. Physically, there exists a considerable amount of neoteny within the species as a whole, making the Maikalians appear considerably younger than they actually are, especially so with the males. Maikalians eyes are much wider than human eyes, giving the appearence of either anger or bewilderment because on their wide eyes. Females have a considerable amount of muscle definition which is somewhat lacking in the males, though this is to be expected as females are much more powerful than the males. By human standards, Maikalians are physically perfect, with a high level of beauty and lacking in imperfections appearence-wise. Psychologically, males are born leaders and geniuses, capable of handling demanding administrative duties with only a handful of people. Females are naturally aggressive, incredible violent, and considerably unstable. Males command the undying loyalty of the females in their species, but are incredibly aggressive when forced to deal with another male, which leads to in-fighting. Study of male-female interactions of the Maikalians has shown that while violently independent, females will happily defer to the wishes of a male, while a male with often act upon the advice of a female. The Maikalians are an incredibly efficent species when it comes to their physiology. They can consume virtually any type of food be it raw, toxic, or inediable. Cannibalism is common within the species, and the waste of resources such as food or water a crime. Maikalians do not produce solid waste, as their body so effectively digests foods comsumed, that the waste can be rendered down into a liquid form and passed though the urinary system of the body. As such, Maikalians have no large intestines, and their bladders are considerably larger than those found in humans. The small intestines in a Maikalians are much shorter in length, but perform their job in liquifying waste exceptionally, one of the major differences found in the Maikalian digestive tract. Maikalians can get by on three hours of sleep each day, but mostly sleep for about four hours. Maikalians have a higher endurance rate than humans, though female Maikalians are much more superior in this regard compared to the males. As a species, the Maikalians have an overall higher pain threshold, and a higher level of stamina. All reproduction is the domain of the male Maikalians, who alone bare the responsibility of producing the new generations of Maikalians. They possess two organs known as the paragus and the canubula, which are the two primary internal reproductive organs within a male. The paragus converts sperm cells into egg cells by taking individual sperm cells, converting them into stem cells, and then convert the stem cells into egg cells, a process that takes about a few seconds. These new egg cells are transferred from the paragus to the canubula, which is effectively a large sack filled with embroynic fluid, which serves as a liquid medium for the eggs. About a million eggs or so can be stored within the canubula. When the male decides to spawn his offspring, sperm from his body is sent to fertilize the eggs in the canubula, and the contents of the organ are squirted from the body into a body of water or a moist surface, where the eggs will grow over a period of a month before hatching. In all, no sexual activity takes place during the process, and the squirting action itself is simply "point and shoot" once the eggs are fertilized. Society and culture Maikalian society is a harsh and unforgiving one where weakness is not tolerated, and failure to obey those in command means death or worse for the disobediant individual. A rigid caste system dominates the social structure of the Maikalian species; all Maikalians alive are a member of a single caste, in which they will serve in for the reminder of their lives. As such, upward mobility is all but impossible for the average Maikalian, though it is entire possible for a Maikalian to fall out of the graces of their original caste, and find themselves punished by being placed within a caste of lower standing. Currently, there are six castes: the nobles, warriors, scientists, merchants, engineers, and workers. Members of each caste understand the role that they must play in Maikalian society, and rarely go beyond what roles have been defined for them by those in charge. Category:Copyright